Ribal Al-Assad, Director of the ODFS, this week addressed the Group of the European People’s Party (EPP Group) in the European Parliament in Brussels, on the crisis in Syria.

The cession was chaired by Mr. Marco Scurria who is a member of the EPP Group Euromed working group.

Ms. Mairead McGuinness, Vice-Chair of the EPP Group Presidency, was also in attendance.

The speech was well received and followed by a Q & A session.

The event was attended by MEPs and officials from the EPP Group, which is the largest in the European Parliament with 270 Members and 3 Observer Members from Croatia. It brings together centre and centre-right pro-European political forces from the Member States of the EU.

Ribal Al-Assad made the following speech:

Good afternoon.

This is the third time I have addressed this forum this year.

My subject has not changed.

Syria continues to unravel …

… and its prospects of peace and democracy continue to fade.

To remind you all of the context …

… the brief optimism of the ‘Arab Spring’…

… gave way to a long, lethal ‘Arab Winter’…

… at the heart of which sits Syria.

In fact, the political and military opposition are both so extreme, fractured and explosive …

… that according to NATO research …

… the regime now has 70% support amongst the indigenous population.

When we contextualise this …

… within a state governed for forty years by an iron-fisted dictatorship …

… that cracked down violently on peaceful protests …

… leading to civil war …

… in which over 100,000 are dead …

… 2.2 million refugees have fled the country …

… a further 6.5m have left their homes …

… measles and TB are rife …

… and UNICEF is now reporting an outbreak of polio …

… it says everything about the nature of the opposition.

Two and a half years ago there was a chance of a peaceful democratic solution.

That was when protestors were attacked on the streets of Damascus.

Those protests were the last time that we heard the collective voices of an opposition calling for peace and democracy.

It was also the last time that a unified, representative and genuinely democratic opposition could have acted as a catalyst for change for the good.

Sadly, the current ‘good’ news stories from Syria …

… chemical disarmament and the potential peace conference in Geneva …

… should not dupe us into believing that a peaceful, democratic solution beckons.

At this stage, there is no positive potential outcome for any liberal Syrian.

Syrian groups with a genuine interest in democracy …

… have consistently been excluded from the ‘Friends of Syria’ meetings by the West, Turkey and the Arab League.

Our voices are ignored now much as they were before the conflict began.

I have called for an inclusive diplomatic solution and a transition to democracy from the start.

General Lloyd Austin III, Army Commander US Central Command is amongst those now calling for diplomacy …

… but there is still no hint of inclusivity.

This is nothing less than a tragedy …

… and I would like to explain how Syria has found itself in this invidious position …

… and why the potential Geneva 2 peace conference is unlikely to make a difference…

… if all groups who genuinely believe in democracy and freedom and are willing to commit to it, are not invited to attend.

And we also need to understand that we are dealing with layers of conflict within a conflict.

The former deputy-director of the CIA, Mike Morell describes four wars:

“the people against a dictator …

… al Qaeda against secular government …

… Sunnis against Shias …

… and a proxy war between the Saudis and the Iranians for dominance in the region.”

I would add two more:

The geo-political cold war between Russia and China on one side and the US and NATO on the other … and the growing internal conflicts between extremist rebel factions fighting against the regime.

The recent agreement between the Superpowers over the chemical weapons issue …

… cannot hide the tension between them or Russia’s long-term strategic support for Syria.

The escalation of this 21st Century Cold War began with China’s perception of a US policy of encirclement …

… and developed with Russia’s concern over the US missile shield.

War games ensued in the summer …

… and the potential transition from ‘games’ to the real thing intensified as Russian and US warships continued to gather close to Syrian waters.

The US’ decision not to intervene in Syria was all that stopped Vladimir Putin fulfilling his promise to support the Syrian regime if required …

… support that included the provision of cutting-edge weaponry including the S300 and S400 surface-to-air missiles to other countries including Iran.

It is not hyperbole to suggest that those days were the tensest the world has known since the Cuban Missile crisis.

And tensions have not abated.

On Saturday, Russian news agency RT reported that the “Varyag,” flagship of Russia’s Pacific Fleet …

… and “Pyotr Veliky”, the nation’s most powerful nuclear-powered battleship, were moved into the Mediterranean Sea.,

But it is not predominantly global diplomacy that has led us to the impasse in Syria.

The key catalyst from the escalation of a local uprising to a regional war …

… is the growing cancer of extremism …

… that links the well-publicised atrocities carried out against civilians in Nigeria, Algeria, Kenya, the Yemen, Woolwich, Boston and elsewhere …

… to the Syrian conflict …

… where, late in September, thirteen Jihadist groups proclaimed an ‘Islamist Alliance’ of tens of thousands of rebel fighters.

Extremism dominates the agenda across the Middle East and beyond.

A brief tour around the region makes this clear.

In Egypt, the overthrow of President Morsi has unleashed a wave of violence by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In September, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim survived a car bomb …

… for which Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis – a Sinai-based Islamist militant group – claimed responsibility.

A suicide bomber accompanied by gunmen hit the country’s main satellite communications, killing nine security men.

More recently, four people, including an 8-year-old girl were killed. Last week Cairo witnessed the latest in a series of attacks outside a Coptic Christian church.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi denounced these “callous and criminal acts”…

… and pledged unity between the nation’s Muslims and Christians.

Last week in Eastern Libya, Abd-Rabbo al-Barassi, announced the formation of a newly formed Barqa government.

Militias in the area had earlier seized control of oil exporting terminals …

… slashing production from 1.4 million to 600,000 barrels a day.

Much of the region remains lawless …

… a direct (if unplanned) result of Western military intervention.

And its repercussions have spread South.

In Mali, for example, French forces have intervened to halt Islamists – armed with weapons from Libya – advancing against the Government.

Sectarian violence has pushed into neighbouring Niger and Northern Nigeria.

In Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Clerics continue to promote Jihad against Alawites, Shias, Christians and Jews in societies where there is no attempt to hide the on-going persecution of women.

In Tunisia, the growing influence of Islamists has left the government in turmoil.

I will return to the context for these regional issues …

… but the threat of Islamism is not restricted to the Middle East and North Africa.

In China, security officials blamed the East Turkestan Islamic Movement for this week’s suicide car crash that killed five people in the heart of Beijing.

Government sources say the movement aims to violently overthrow Chinese rule in the north western region of Xinjiang …

… home to its Turkic Muslim Uighur minority.

In Russia, meanwhile, the State is ever more agitated by Islamic fundamentalism in Chechnya, Daghestan and elsewhere.

Hundreds of extremists from the North Caucasus region are fighting alongside the rebels inside Syria.

In summary, Islamism is a growing threat …

… invariably associated with violence.

Which brings me back to the Middle East …

… where the entire region is split on sectarian lines.

A Shia-led axis runs through Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon …

… with Tehran’s top military and government officials, proclaiming they will fight to the end to save this ‘perfect’ alliance …

… backed to the hilt by the Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah.

As a result, forces from Iran and Lebanon have helped the Syrian regime make recent gains in its ground war.

Standing against them is a Sunni-led axis involving Turkey, Saudi, Jordan and Qatar.

Originally, this group had a relatively clear set of shared objectives …

… predominantly enmity to Iran …

… and it counted on support from the West.

However, these relationships have become increasingly complex as the shape of the conflict has changed.

I will return to Turkey later on as she has become a weather vane for the state of the war.

But the US’ change of stance over military intervention in Syria …

… and cautious warming to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani …

… has created a domino effect in relationships across this once clear divide.

Qatar has, from the start, tried to give the Muslim Brotherhood a stranglehold over Syria’s political opposition …

… and has increasingly attempted to position the Brotherhood as ‘moderate Muslims’ against the Saudi-backed Salafis and Wahabis. But Qatar was also chastised by the US for letting advanced weapons reach the Al-Qaeda linked Al Nusra Front.

I will explain shortly why the Brotherhood can never be referred to as ‘moderate’.

She has allowed Saudi Arabia to take charge of the rebellion …

… facilitating the support of a jihadist majority among the rebels.

Riyahd’s disaffection with the apparent cooling of US support …

… has led to her symbolically rejecting a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

The rise in extremist fundamentalism has also softened relations between Turkey and Iran …

… with the former’s Foreign Minister visiting Ankara last week …

… and between Turkey and Iraq …

… both concerned by the rise of al Qaeda in Syria …

… who resolved to co-operate more closely to limit the spill-over from Syria’s war.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari explained that:

“Everybody is worried about the increase in extremism … and in the erosion of the state of Syria that would create chaos in the entire region”.

This leaves Saudi Arabia as the loudest and most active proponent of Jihad in the region.

Along with Qatar, she was already responsible for the majority of the US$3.5bn sent to strengthen military support for Syrian rebels.

With the US being reported to have cut off non-lethal aid to the rebels until they regain control of the border crossing into Turkey near Azaz …

… Saudi has simply upped its investment …

… attempting to build up a stronger Salafist Islamist force.

But this support for the rebels has not just been financial.

The Grand Mufti himself called on all Muslims to burn Churches …

… and Sheikh Luhaidan, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Council in Saudi Arabia, called for Jihad against the Alawites even if one third of the population died in the process.

This summer, Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi effectively served a death sentence on the entire Alawite sect by describing them as ‘‘more infidels than Christians and Jews’’.

This sort of incitement has had a calamitous effect …

… as foreign fighters head for Syria in ever-increasing numbers.

Multiple sources have reported the Saudi encouragement for Jaysh al-Islam (the Army of Islam or JAI) …

… that was created in late September.

It united 43 Salafi Islamist rebel groups …

… whose levels of extremism are open to interpretation.

The Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, is encouraging the group to accept the authority of the US and Supreme Military Council …

… whilst pressing the US to supply it with anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles.

It is an approach lined with danger.

Meanwhile, the Al Monitor website recently described Jihad in Syria as a national sport in Tunisia …

… played by young men from Salafist mosques.

Turkish Airlines flights from Tunis to Istanbul transported these men singing anthems and giving sermons.

Meanwhile, in August, the Pakistani Taliban formally announced its presence in Syria.

Thousands of foreign fighters have also come across from Turkey, Southeast Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and the Caucasus.

Huge groups are now reportedly travelling from Chechnya, stopping in transit in Vienna and Nice.

A video was posted online in October showing 150 Kazakhs from the same family leaving for Syria “to fulfil their duty of jihad in the Levant”.

Aaron Y. Zelin, a Washington Institute researcher who studies al Qaeda and Syria believes “This is probably one of the biggest foreign-fighter mobilizations since it became a phenomenon in the 1980s with the Afghan jihad against the Soviets”.

Western intelligence services estimate that there are now over 6,000 foreign fighters in Syria with 10% from Europe, Australia, and North America.

Their Arab counterparts estimate closer to 15,000.

Jihadist sources speak of 30,000.

Michael Morell believes that extreme Islamism in Syria is now the biggest threat to US National Security, bigger than the threat from Iran and North Korea …

… which explains the US’s recent warming to Iran.

And the US remains an ocean away from the conflict …

… unlike those of us in Europe.

But returning to my ultimate theme …

… the most terminal threat is clearly to the people of Syria …

… the forgotten majority whose interests seem to have been ignored during this prolonged period of diplomatic posturing and sectarian hatred.

Where they have been most let down is in the extremist make-up of the political opposition to the regime …

… which can only be understood through an insight into its backing by Turkey and Qatar …

… through the vehicle of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Al Jazeera’s support should not trick us into thinking that the Brotherhood is in any way moderate.

It’s flag includes three key elements:

The Quran which references Sharia Law …

…two swords which reference Jihad …

…the words “and prepare” (referencing a surat in the Quran that mentions terrifying the enemy of Allah) …

… around which is written:

“Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; Qur’an is our law; Jihad is our way; Dying in the name of Allah is our greatest hope.”

The Brotherhood’s offshoots include Hamas and Al-Qaeda …

… and its views on pluralism are summed-up by President Erdogan of Turkey …

… who described democracy in 2008 as:

“just the train we board to reach our destination”.

And so when I tell you that two thirds of the Syrian National Council invited to the ‘Friends of Syria’ conferences early last year …

… were members of the Brotherhood …

… that the Council was created in Turkey and supported by President Erdogan (whose own party is linked to the Brotherhood) …

… and that it has always been run by extremists …

you will understand that it’s legitimisation by the West immediately annexed the interests of every liberal Syrian.

And the Council’s re-branding to the Syrian National Coalition …

… made no difference …

… and nor would you expect it to have been from a group formed in Qatar …

… or from one whose President, Ahmad Jarba …

… decided yesterday in Istanbul …

… that the best way to resolve an argument with FSA spokesman Loay Al-Muqdad …

… was to slap him!

The only real surprise …

… was that it took former Secretary of State Clinton a full 18 months …

… to appreciate that the SNC was not representative of the Syrian people.

Its President Ahmad Jarba has ruled-out attending the Geneva conference unless it is preceded by a clear timeframe for President Bashar al-Assad to leave power.

He also demanded a clear decision on further arming the opposition forces …

… and refused to attend if Iran was represented …

… despite Lakhdar Brahimi’s belief that she should participate.

All this has hampered US envoy Robert Ford’s attempts to push the SNC to approve the talks.

Saleh Muslim, co-chairman of the Kurdish PYD party …

… has also blamed the SNC, Turkey and Saudi for the lack of progress …

… but explained that u like Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister …

… Ford had refused to talk with him in Geneva.

But in practise, the SNC’s role is irrelevant.

It is not representative of the people …

… or of the rebel forces.

Nineteen Syrian rebel groups acting independently posted a video last week explaining:

“We consider participation in Geneva 2 and negotiating with the regime is trading the blood of martyrs and treason, and those will be held accountable in our courts”.

And those nineteen groups are unrelated to the thirteen who announced the formation of the Islamist Alliance last month.

Even were the SNC to want a ceasefire, it could not be implemented.

The rebel forces are simply too disparate and extreme.

Congressman Michael McCaul, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee …

… the Pentagon …

… and General Idris of the Free Syrian Army …

… all put the proportion of extremists within rebel forces at 50% or more.

The defence consultancy IHS Jane’s breaks the 100,000 ‘opposition’ troops …

… into 10,000 jihadists linked directly to al Qaeda …

… 35,000 hard-line Islamists with a purely Syrian perspective …

… and another 30,000 belonging to groups with an “Islamic character”.

It suggest they are fractured into 1,000 separate bands.

It is a hellish twist on the Tower of Babel …

… with different groups …

… from different places …

… speaking different languages …

… and guided by different leaders …

… all bent on death and destruction.

I have already mentioned the tensions between groups supported by Qatar and Saudi.

The U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford …

… testified during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last week …

… that units of the Free Syrian Army (whose Supreme Military Command exclusively comprises Salafi extremist groups) …

… are increasingly clashing with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria …

… creating a second front between Salafi and al-Qaeda affiliated extremists.

Furthermore, in the North of the country, Syrian Kurds opposed to the regime …

… and the PYD (linked to the Turkish the PKK) are also fighting against the Islamist rebels.

On Saturday they seized from jihadist groups the Yaaroubiyeh major border crossing with Iraq.

This is no united opposition.

Nor a democratic one.

I believe only 20% can possibly be described as being inspired solely by the good of Syria …

… rather than the rewards of Islamism.

This is backed-up by the hundreds of videos showing Free Syrian Army flags flying alongside the black flag of Al-Qaeda.

The formation of the Islamist Alliance has integrated the three largest groups previously fighting under the FSA banner … including Al-Nusra …

… calling for an Islamic State in Syria under Sharia Law.

Khalid Khoja, a senior SNC official in Turkey, believes the Alliance now effectively controls northern Syria.

In areas under the control of the ‘Islamic State of Iraq and Syria’ …

… locals are being tortured to enforce the law …

… and women are banned from seeing male doctors.

There are clear parallels with the fate of Taliban-run communities in Afghanistan.

Extreme Islamism is synonymous with terror.

August’s offensive against 11 Alawite villages in the province of Lattakia …

… has been condemned by Human Rights Watch as a War Crime.

It named five Islamic extremist groups, including two linked to al-Qaida.

It confirmed that other rebel groups, including those belonging to the Free Syrian Army, were present.

General Idris is now complicit in the spread of extremist terror …

… as he publicly announced that he was visiting “his forces” on the front line in Latakia at the time.

But this was just one of many atrocities carried out by Islamists.

At least 450 Kurdish civilians have been butchered …

… on top of 200 Alawites.

Shia groups have been murdered in Hatla …

… as well as Christians in Al-Duweir in Homs …

… prior to the carnage in the Christian Town of Maaloula.

These incidents receive no formal condemnation in the West …

… but returning to my initial point about the regime being the lesser of two evils …

…it is criminal that a representative of the regime, the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, was able to address the UN General Assembly and explain with some justification, that this was not a civil war …

… but “a war against terrorism that recognizes no values, nor justice, nor equality, and disregards any rights or laws.”

In this light, greater credence is given to Vladimir Putin’s questioning the source of August’s much-publicised chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians.

Three days after the arrival of a UN investigation team was an odd time for the regime to do something so incendiary …

… particularly with the ground war progressing in its favour.

Wide-ranging Western estimates of fatalities also raise questions about their Syrian Intelligence.

The US-Russian resolution on chemical weapons makes both sides accountable.

My view is that, like so much of this conflict, blame remains a grey area …

… with no benefit to the silent majority either way.

What is certain …

… is that having absorbed such huge numbers of fighters, arms and international funding …

… the conflict is now spitting out burning debris.

I have long spoken of my fears for a more widespread regional sectarian conflict …

… and those fears are being realised …

… despite the apparent softening of relations at a diplomatic level.

According to the Washington Times, Intelligence officials fear the establishment of safe havens for al Qaeda-linked extremists in Eastern Syria …

… from which they may launch attacks throughout the Middle East.

An unnamed U.S. counter- terrorism official was quoted on Syria’s “two-pronged terrorist threat” to Western nations …

… with foreign troops returning to mount attacks in their home countries …

… while others turn their focus away from Syria to launching external operations elsewhere across the West.

In Lebanon’s second largest city of Tripoli …

.. tensions are rising.

Last week witnessed five consecutive days of fighting …

… between Jabal Mohsen, which backs the Syrian regime …

… and Bab al-Tabbaneh, which supports its opponents.

This is a proxy war in every sense.

There has been on-going sectarian violence in Iraq.

Reuters reported attacks on Shi’ite Muslims killing at least 59 …

… including a suicide truck bomb targeting members of the country’s Shabak minority.

Black Al Qaida flags are flying once again above many mosques and civic buildings in Iraq’s border towns.

Hadi al-Amiri, Iraq’s transport minister, has added that it would be impossible to “sit idle while the Shi’ites are being attacked”.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has blamed the acceleration of sectarian-led violence on weapons sent to Syria.

As a result, and two years after US forces withdrew from Iraq …

… Maliki is calling for more military equipment and greater security cooperation from America.

Meanwhile, Jordan has protested to Syria after a shell landed in the kingdom …

… violence in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula escalates …

… and Israeli warplanes struck near Latakia …

… targeting what US officials have described as advanced Russian missile weapons systems headed to Hezbollah based in Lebanon.

Last week the Greek Coastguard intercepted a cargo ship from Sierra Leone …

… carrying 20,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, heading for Syria .

General Myers already categorises this as a “regional war”.

General Lloyd Austin III …

… was more specific when he spoke in Washington on 22 October:

“The conflict in Syria cannot and will not be resolved militarily, and this sentiment has been universally shared by every leader that I’ve talked with in the region.

All agree that an end to the conflict will require a diplomatic or a political solution, and until such a solution is achieved the fighting will continue and more lives will be needlessly lost.

Left unchecked, the spread of violence and terrorist activity emanating from Syria could result in a long, drawn out conflict that extends from Beirut to Damascus to Baghdad to Yemen.”

I can only agree …

… and it is the spread of extremist terror that poses the greatest threat of all …

… a point best illustrated by the changing positioning of Turkey.

Originally, President Erdogan transparently facilitated the opposition.

He even questioned publically whether the Syrian President was really a Muslim …

… which was effectively calling a Jihad against Alawites.

Turkey has given refuge, logistical support, safe passage, training, arming to Islamist rebels and jihadis from all over the world …

… and allowed the opening of the SNC headquarters and Free Syria Army (FSA) command center on its territory.

It even criticised the US for blacklisting Al-Nusra.

As recently as September, Erdogan spoke in favour of sustained military intervention:

In his words:

“A limited operation will not satisfy us. It should be the way it was in Kosovo.”

But Turkey has suffered a rebound from this open-armed welcome for extremist opponents of the Syrian regime.

A state of lawlessness has emerged in Turkey’s south where the Sydney Morning Herald has reported how hundreds of al-Qaeda recruits are being kept in safe houses before being smuggled over the border to wage “jihad” in Syria.

Earlier in the year a 2kg cylinder of sarin gas was found in homes of suspected Syria Islamists detained in the southern provinces of Adana and Mersia.

In the Human Rights Watch condemnation of war crimes in Lattakia included a plea to Turkey to tighten border controls.

But Turkey is still a democracy …

… and almost a third of its population comprises Alawites and Kurds.

Their opinion matters …

… as does the anarchy in the Southern States.

With al-Nusra fighters controlling border crossings between Turkey and Syria …

… the Turkish government is beginning to backtrack.

Turkish Forces, which had previously only fired on forces loyal to the Syrian regime …

… hit positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham in Syria’s Azaz-Parsa mountains.

935 rocket heads and ten launching pads headed for Syria were detained after a raid in Adana.

President Gul has implored the international community to end the war.

He has described Syria as becoming “Afghanistan on the shores of the Mediterranean” …

… with the radicalisation of ordinary people by Islamist jihadist groups posing a growing risk to its neighbours and the countries of Europe.

This is a complete volte-face.

Turkey has shifted from aggressively patrolling Syrian air space and backing its opposition …

… to calling for help for its people.

This is real politick at its most blatant.

In practise, however, many of her new border controls …

… including a wall splitting her Kurdish population …

… appear to be aimed less at stopping al Qaeda … and more at the Kurds fighting them.

Meanwhile, on November 5th, Turkish forces intercepted a vehicle heading for Syria …

… carrying twenty sacks of sulphur …

… and eight barrels that were sent for inspection.

But most of the occupants of the vehicle were allowed to escape to Syria on foot.

The one suspect who was detained claimed the chemicals were wanted by the FSA.

Irrespective of the rhetoric, this is hardly the behaviour of a state whose values are shifting.

And it sums-up the plight of the Syrian people …

… whose very existence is currently at the whim of external forces …

… none of whom appear to put their interests first.

Which brings me, briefly, to the future.

The way things are going the conflict will either end in a victory for one of the two sides. ..

… or a stalemate leading to the disintegration of my country.

Please shout if any of those appeal!

Which leaves the Syrian people desperate for a fourth way.

I run the ‘Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria’ …

… and so you can guess where my solution lies.

Democracy is not on the agenda of the regime …

… the Islamist alliance …

… the SNC …

… or the Arab League.

Ban Ki Moon has asked for one group to represent the opposition at the conference.

But there is no way that any one group could possibly represent the entire spectrum of the Syrian people.

Peace Conferences and conversations about the future can only succeed if they include every group with a genuine interest in democracy and a vested interest in the country’s future.

There is a long and bloody history of regions whose futures have been drawn by international consensus.

Syria’s future must be determined by its own people …

… including that 45-50% made-up of the minority groups currently living in fear of their lives.

The West is the birthplace and champion of democracy.

It must support those values against all others.

Which, as a paper published by Chatham House argues …

… means the US and Russia moving from antagonism to reconciliation if they are to construct an effective peace-building process for Syria.

Geo-political machinations involving Moscow, Washington, Tehran and Riyadh are, by their very nature, riddled with self-interest.

As has the West’s support for the SNC with the Muslim Brotherhood at its heart.

General Dempsey has now gone on record as explaining that the rebel fighters “do not support our interests”.

The UN’s Paulo Pinheiro stated that none want democracy.

There is nothing to be gained by supporting the rebel forces …

… not for the West …

… or for the Syrian people.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov added last week that the Geneva peace process is failing “primarily because representatives of the opposition aren’t ready to take part without preconditions” …

….and “the National Coalition claims to be the only representative of the Syrian people, but doesn’t represent even a majority of the opposition groups opposing Assad’s regime.”

It is too late for a miracle.

As I have already discussed, a ceasefire could not hold in the current climate.

A peaceful election would be out of the question with the country swarming with Jihadists bent on murder.

And so I can only implore the international community to stop supplying anything to any group.

The Persian Gulf states must be persuaded to cease to fund, arm, train, shelter or incite the rebels.

Financial assistance should only be used to supply medical aid through the Red Cross, UNICEF and other responsible charities.

In the meantime, I can only urge you to spread the word …

… that this is a conflict with no upside …

… but whose continuation could cause a war across the region and beyond …

… the likes of which we have never seen before.

That is not in our interests …

… or those of the Syrian people …

… whose numbers are diminishing by the day.

Thank you